One of my BB pet peeves is the misuse of certain words. For example, a "completely safe nom" wouldn't be a pawn...a pawn is a piece you don't care about losing. The one that's particularly bugging me right now is 'floater'. I mentioned this a few days ago, that a lot of them seem to think floater=someone who doesn't win comps. While floaters generally don't win a lot of comps, that's not what it means to be a floater. What it actually means is either a.) someone who goes where the power is, rather than picking and sticking with a side/alliance, or b.) someone who coasts along under the radar and lets the rest of the players pick each other off. Given that, my analysis of the remaining HGs floater scores:
Rachel: Clearly sticks with her side, and doesn't just follow the power. And Rachel's never even visited below the radar. Floater score: 0
Jeff: Has an unbreakable alliance with Jordan, a strong one with Rachel, and another strong one with Shelly/Adam. Though he's got a few irons in the fire, he's not really floating between groups. Like Rachel, he's never under the radar Floater score: 0
Jordan: Same alliances as Jeff, plus she has a lot of side deals like the no-nom with Kalia. Again, she's got different deals that aren't necessarily all in line with each other, but it's not really a back-and-forth situation. She does tend to slip under the radar. Floater score: 1
Daniele: From the beginning she was playing both sides, being part of the re-runs, but using her GK status to get in good with newbies. The only reason she picked a side was because she got caught in the Kill Jeff plan. She was also staying sort of below the radar until the Jeff situation forced her out into the spotlight. Floater score: 1
Kalia: Early on she was totally playing all sides. It didn't matter who was HOH, you could count on Kalia to be their best friend. Getting caught in the Kill Jeff crossfire forced her to one side, but conveniently enough that side has been in power ever since. It will be interesting to see what she does when the other side is back in control. Kalia also stayed below the radar for as long as she could. She's admitted throwing comps (or at least not doing her best) and even when she took a stand by voting out Keith, she did everything she could to keep it quiet. Floater score: 2
Adam: He's playing all sides, but he's not exactly going back and forth. He's likely more loyal to JeJo and Shelly than to Dani/Kalia/Lawon, and the fact that DKL don't trust him makes him a little less of a floater. He is doing a pretty good job of staying below the radar by playing up the funny guy and the "just thrilled to be here" roles. Floater score: 3
Porsche: She stayed below the radar for the first few weeks, not necessarily by choice but because of the GK. But once she was back in the game, rather than picking a side she started playing both of them. She stuck with Brenchel at first but as soon as it became clear that wasn't where the power was at the moment she was right up with Daniele and Kalia making sure they took her in. She did burn her bridge back to other side so when the power shifts again she'll have a hard time rebuilding, but that may not stop her from trying. Floater score: 3
Shelly: She's obviously playing all sides and doing it as well as anyone. Though there's an occasional thought of distrust, most of them believe they have her, when the truth is that she owns them all. She's pretty safe from the block no matter who is HOH. She's also stayed below the radar by just playing the mom role. She's done well enough in comps to not look useless, but not so well anyone takes her as a threat. Floater score: 4
Lawon: You can't really say Lawon is playing all sides. It's more accurate to say he's playing no sides. He sort of joins into the Daniele/Kalia alliance, but he's not really a member, just a vote. Similar to Adam, he's staying under the game radar by being the consummate entertainer. Floater score: 4
Floating is absolutely a legitimate BB strategy, and it often works really well. It tends to annoy the non-floaters because they feel like they're working hard in the game while others are just enjoying a summer vacation. Which is why I think what you really have to look at is how hard is a floater really playing. Take Shelly and Lawon for example. They both scored at the top of my floater scale, but Shelly is working hard every day to get where she needs to be. Lawon, on the other hand, I feel like could just wake up on Thursday, ask who he's supposed to vote out and then go back to bed for the rest of the week and the game would be no different. He's definitely fun to have around, but is he really playing Big Brother?
In other news, today is Adam's 40th birthday. In honor of the big day, he shaved off his beard and completely changed his look. Porsche baked cupcakes and a cake, and the DR gave the sloppers a reprieve to enjoy the party. It's even being blocked from the feeds, perhaps meaning they're getting music.
Others took a cue from Adam and made it a salon day. Jeff trimmed up a bit, and Daniele dyed her hair with an assist from Kalia. Daniele also got a hindering hand from Rachel who stopped by in the middle of the dye job to talk game, leaving Dani standing there with half the dye on her hair for about 20 minutes.
And finally, the foot fetish cam operator is back.